


Hero, Champion, Inquisitor

by KnightDawn



Series: Blood of the Covenant [12]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Gen, Implied Relationships, Mage Hawke (Dragon Age), Purple Hawke (Dragon Age), Romance is NOT the focus of this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:27:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27320440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnightDawn/pseuds/KnightDawn
Summary: Someone had to lead them, that much was true.In which three heroes think about the titles they've been given.
Relationships: Alistair/Female Cousland (Dragon Age), Fenris/Female Hawke
Series: Blood of the Covenant [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947613
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9
Collections: Beyond the Veil's Artober Event





	Hero, Champion, Inquisitor

**Hero.**

She was still recovering from the battle when she first heard the title they had given her — the “Hero of Ferelden.” Immediately, her mind was filled with thoughts of her friends and companions, all the people who had fought by her side during the Blight. They were _all_ heroes, most of them far braver and more selfless than Lyanna ever had been.

She was just the one who had rushed in to make the final blow.

Still, the title stuck to her — the Warden who had killed the Archdemon and lived to tell the tale.

Remarkable, they called it. Miraculous. _Impossible._

The questions from the other, distant Wardens were severe. They knew better, knew Lyanna should not have survived. Her body should have been entombed at Weisshaupt, beside Garahel and the other heroic Wardens who had made the ultimate sacrifice to end the previous Blights.

It wasn’t long before she started to hear other whispers, too. Some people wondered if the Blight had been real at all — it ended so quickly, so cleanly, and with a new King and Queen ruling in its wake. It didn’t matter how kind and generous they were, there would always be people wondering about the circumstances that had led to their coronation.

How many would turn on her if they knew how she had managed to survive?

_“No Warden has to die in the coming battle. There is another way…”_

**Champion.**

Hawke was dazed, barely holding herself up, when Meredith first named her “Champion of Kirkwall.” The icy steel in the Knight-Commander’s eyes haunted her as she carefully turned to walk away. She managed to make it outside before she stumbled and fell forward. She heard a surprised shout, felt someone catch her...

Then the world went dark.

She woke up hours later, wearing fresh clothes and bundled up in her own bed. The sound of quiet, familiar voices crept in from the other room, but her eyes were drawn to the man that sat nearby, his glass-green eyes going wide as she tried to sit up.

“You should remain still. You… sustained a lot of wounds in that fight.”

“Still won, though,” Hawke said, laughing. “Even got the title to prove it. It’s ‘Champion’ Hawke, now! Ha!”

Fenris said nothing, just watched her sink back into her pillows meekly. She could see the pain glimmering in his eyes. They both knew this was not a boon, not really. Meredith had certainly seen her casting spells as she fought the Arishok, felt the charge of magic in the air. If she had wanted to, she could have bound Hawke up, taken her straight to the Gallows.

Instead, she had set Hawke up to fail. The title was a leash, prettied up as a reward for her services.

_How long would it be before Meredith tightened it up, like a noose?_

**Inquisitor.**

As he gazed down on Skyhold from the balcony outside his private quarters, Ash felt the weight of his new title sink in — "the Inquisitor."

Someone had to lead them, that much was true. Someone had to keep them safe. He’d always been good at that part, at least — watching, scouting, keeping his people well supplied. But the Inquisition had a lot more people than his clan ever had.

“Inquisitor? I brought up fresh bedding and some curtains, as you requested.”

“Yes, those will do. Just, ah…” he trailed off as the servant began to make the bed for him, the suggestion that they could just leave the things anywhere in his quarters going unsaid. He’d attempted that in Haven and been looked at like he’d grown an extra hand.

“Will you be needing anything else, Lord Lavellan?”

“No, that will be all.”

As the servant darted off, Ash sighed and glanced back outside. The crisp air was calming, more so than the stuffy old keep. Inquisitor was preferable to “Herald of Andraste,” at least. _That_ title still made his skin crawl.

_Creators, please... let them forget they ever called me that._

He wanted to be remembered for his own deeds, not something he’d survived by chance.

**Author's Note:**

> I did something a little different with these prompts. They fit together too well for me to separate.
> 
> It's sort of funny to me that these three characters are pretty different from each other, but have similar thoughts about the titles they've been given. That's one thing they have in common - they want to be remembered for the things that they did through their own merit, but not at the expense of their friends being forgotten.


End file.
